1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to brick manufacturing equipment and, more particularly, to apparatus for handling bricks prior to firing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bricks have long been a versatile building material. Generally they are made of clay or shale. However, when used for special applications such as paving or refractory materials, the clay or shale is usually supplemented with other materials such as slag, cement, or lime. Usually, such special-purpose bricks are refered to by descriptive names such as fire-brick or sand-lime brick.
In the manufacture of bricks, selected clay soil is throughly ground and mixed with water. This mixture is then "fired" or heated in a controlled manner to produce finished bricks. For many years, the bricks were formed individually by placing the unheated mixture in moulds and then firing the bricks in a kiln. Generally, the bricks were made with manual labor throughout the process.
Currently, however the brick-making process has become more mechanized. The clay is ground and mixed with water in batching machines, extruded through a die, and wire-cut to the selected size. Typical equipment for extruding and cutting clay material into bricks is such as is manufactured by Pearne & Lacy Machine Company, Forrest Pascal Machinery Company, and Lingl Corporation. After the bricks are cut, they are dried and stacked for firing in a kiln. Although much of the process is now mechanized, stacking the bricks for firing in the furnace is still done by manual labor. Usually, a continuously fired kiln is used in which the bricks are passed slowly through the kiln on a conveyor.
Bricks produced by prior methods and equipment typically have dimensions of approximately 2.25 inches by 4 inches by 8 inches. More recently, a new type of brick has been developed that is assembled in a brickwork to provide an ornamental brick veneer. This new type of brick is thinner in that it has dimensions of approximately 2.25 inches by 0.5 inches by 8 inches. It is applied to various surfaces such as concrete blocks, wood paneling, sheetrock, and metal by bonding the bricks to the surface with an adhesive. The completed brickwork provides an attractive, ornamental veneer surface for various applications such as walls, fireplaces, kitchens, room dividers, and planters. Previously, these thin bricks were made simply by cutting a thin face off of a standard brick with a conventual rotating reel cutter prior to firing.
In brick-making operations in general, the process of manually handling the cut bricks prior to firing in the kiln has been relatively slow and expensive. In particular, manually handling the more recently developed thin, decorative bricks prior to firing in the kiln has required considerably care because they are much thinner and more delicate than conventionally sized bricks. Therefore, handling of the unfired decorative bricks has been even more time consuming and expensive than in the case for conventionally sized bricks. Accordingly, there existed a need for material handling equipment that could manipulate the unfired cut bricks, especially thin, decorative bricks, such that the bricks could be arranged for firing in a kiln.